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Loving The New LBI: Huge, Mushy Waves Full Of Brown, Yellow Foam

Mush

Before going any further, I can see from your Google Queries that you want to know what the brown foam and yellow foam in the surf is on LBI. It’s algae, getting beat to all heck in the surf. Gross? Yes. Ugly? Sure? Harmful? Not really to you in the short term (though it is always advisable to wash well whenever you return from the beach) but certainly harmful to the ecosystem.

If you really want to get rid of foam, there are two things you can do right now: 1.) Pray for West Wind, currently expected Tuesday, and B.) tell everyone you meet to stop using so much darn fertilizer. Fertilizer is the culprit, and when it washes into the Bay coming from far away lands like “New York” and “Pennsylvania” it puts too many nutrients into the water. This causes the algae to bloom. It not only suffocates the bay and everything in it, but gets channeled into the ocean through the inlets, and blown to the beach by the kind of strong East winds we’ve been having, then gets pummeled in the surf and all over your face.

I’m oversimplifying things but it really is that simple: fertilizer = foam.

What’s interesting is that the uglier and nastier the foam looks, leaving brown and yellow stains on the beach, the more organic it is. The foam that should alarm you is the whiter, rainbow-reflective, oiler foam that indicates sewage.

We’re finally just accepting this little weather pattern and finding ways to enjoy the beach. The crystal clear waters of just a few days past seem like long forgotten memories of childhood. The massive surf was super fun for anyone daring to venture past the break. The most dangerous part of these big waves and ultra-high tides is the shorebreak. The foam is still gross, but we’re closing in on the end of this chapter, hopefully. The winds will start shifting soon into a big mess of South & West, and somewhere in there we should find the antidote to clean up the surf.

There is some power in these things. Mushy, but powerful.Ambergris? The wonders of the East Wind. If this is in fact Whale Poop, it could be worth quite a bit of cash. Did you no that Whale Vomit is the secret to Channel #5? Google it!Toobs? Not Really.Royal Tern about to take her Royal Foam Bath